Amazing Local Man: James Calmar Wilson

I wrote up this article for our local newspaper and the state genealogical publication, so I figured I could put it on my blog.
Note I am NOT related to this man; neither is anyone in my family. I do live in the county where he is from.

James Calmar Wilson is the only son born to John Wesley and Margaret Olive (McCune) Wilson. He was born in Stromsburg, Polk County, Nebraska on October 8, 1900. His mother gave music lessons out of her home, and one student arrived that day and was told that she gave birth that morning so the student’s lesson would be postponed. His mother passed away when he was just 15 years old, and his father when he was 18, so he spent quite a bit of time with his maternal grandparents, Calmar and Julia McCune.

He was educated at home for the first year, and then entered Stromsburg schools in second grade. He graduated from Stromsburg High School with the Class of 1917. He then entered the state university and received his Bachelor’s of Science from that institution. Since graduation, he tried his hand at several occupations including farming, professional musician, college professor, explorer, writer and lecturer. He was an instructor for a time in the English department at the Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

The local paper records the departure of Jim and his friend Francis Flood in August 1927 for their trip around the world, calling them journalists. Francis was the associate editor of the Nebraska Farmer, while Jim is called a farmer, saxophone player and journalist. For this trip they needed passports and also had letters from the army, navy, White House and governor. They carried one suitcase between them, Wilson’s banjo, and a camera. They wrote articles for magazines, and took pictures and motion film for a couple companies. In 1928 with Francis, they became the first white men to cross central Africa from coast to coast. He and Francis made this 1200-mile trip by motorcycle, crossing roads never traveled by wheels. At one point, he was so thankful for a drink he played his banjo in gratefulness. Another day he played his banjo at the Emir’s palace and was offered three of his four wives, which he declined. He has made other travels and explorations to India, Burma, Siam, China, Japan, Canada, Alaska and Mexico. His love of travel and adventure seemed to come from his mother, herself quite a traveler in almost all the countries of Europe.

He married Alice Winona Olmstead on December 24, 1928 in Lincoln, Nebraska. To this union, two sons were born: David James and Steven Calmar.

As of the fall of 1933, he is a lecturer and writer and has been unusually successful. His articles have appeared in many leading magazines, and has lectured before Field Museum, Harvard Club of Boston, The Executives’ Club of Chicago, Colgate University and hundreds of other leading organizations throughout the east. At this time he made his home in northern Indiana on the shores of Lake Michigan.

In 1936 Jim Wilson wrote a book “Three Wheeling Through Africa” which describes their trip in 1927-1928 with the motorcycles, at times having to carry them with the aid of camels. He cites the friendliness and helpfulness of the African peoples. This book was briefly on the New York Times bestseller list. The book was originally published by Robbs Merrill of Indianapolis and sold for $3.50.

Image of book from Amazon.com 

I found a copy of this book for a somewhat reasonable price and ordered it. I am browsing through it and will donate it to our local public library. In this book Jim calls himself “a misfit, drifting from engineering to peddling books to vandeville to blondes to music to brunettes to punching cows to Alaska to raising wheat, and now to Africa”. (chapter 3, page 41). 

In 1938-1939 he made another worldwide trip, this time writing for World Letters. After World War II, he taught again, this time at Colorado A & M in Fort Collins.

In 1954, he and Alice moved to a farm near Polk where he finally settled until his passing. There he pioneered the use of native tall-grass prairie grass for pasture, erosion control and prairie restoration. He co-authored a book with his wife Alice and his son Steve entitled “Grass Land” on ecological aesthetic and economical values of our Middle Western conservation society of America. This book is hard to find to purchase, but is available at Nebraska college and university libraries. This book was self-published by “Wide Skies Books” in Polk, Nebraska by the Wilson family. Their son Steve took all the photos in the book and has won international claim as a professional photographer.

He also had an article published in the August 1943 issue of Harper’s Magazine entitled “Don’t Waste the Game Crop!” co-authored with his wife Alice. Actually his wife was quite the writer; she wrote for “The Nebraska Farmer”, “Saturday Evening Post”, and “Family Circle”.

He also wrote many songs and was an accomplished musician, no doubt another talent passed on and encouraged by his talented mother, who herself was an accomplished musician having studied at the New York Conservatory of Music.

James Calmar Wilson has a valley named for him called “Jim Wilson Canyon” in Fall River County, South Dakota. It is in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland near Pine Ridge Reservation. 

He passed away January 31, 1995 and is buried in the Stromsburg Cemetery. 

Below is my photo of his gravestone: